To Love and To Be Loved

Chapter XI

After her talk with her brother, she began wondering how to approach the subject - but decided to wait until after the ball which was slowly looming over everyone in the Manor.

So instead of approaching the subject, Aileen and Connor avoided their feelings like a plague, went on walks after breakfast, returned for lunch, spent time with their families and dined with the visitors, only to repeat the process the next day.

The weather had begun cooling down even more which meant that it would soon be too cold to go on their expeditions to the forest, this made Aileen push for them to go once a day at least.

Until the day of the ball.

That was the first day they hadn't managed to go to the forest since Connor was forced for final fittings with the seamstress and Aileen was doing everything she could to avoid the other women of the court that were all helping each other with clothes and hair and any other ridiculous preparations.

She remained in her room until the late afternoon, which was when she was forced to get dressed.

She walked into the dressing room and pulled out the ensemble her mother had chosen for the ball with its matching gloves, shoes and accessories. She sorrowfully removed the soft and comfortable day dress she was wearing and pulled on her petticoat - as an act of rebellion she didn't wear a corset but to make it seem more subtle, she opted to keep the petticoat.

The gown had a silver lace and tulle bodice that had a faint chequered pattern of grey and silver, the tulle sleeves reached her elbows and flared out delicately. The skirt had a simple black underskirt and multiple layers of dark grey tulle with white and black veins across the fabric, making it resemble veined marble. Her shoes were silver moccasins and her necklace was a small pearl necklace that rested on her collarbones. Her hair was left mostly open with a few loose strands pulled into a braid and atop her head was a silver band with a large pearl in the centre and smaller ones along the sides that made it look like a diadem.

She then pulled on her plain grey wrist-gloves and left her rooms. She wandered around, as a form of procrastination, before making her way to the hall to find the guests were all lined up and ready to enter the ballroom where the host family was already waiting.

She waited behind a pillar at the edge of the room until she spotted one of her brothers and walked up to him,
"Hey, Wesley,"

Her brother stared at her for a moment with shock,

"Aileen?"

"Yes, that is my name, yours is Wesley as I have already said."

Her brother rolled his eyes,
"Yep, that's you alright, I just didn't recognise you for a moment, you look...royal."

"Thank you?"
Aileen said in reply, unsure what to make of his statement,

"Where is my other beloved brother?"
She asked sweetly, and Wesley scoffed,

"God knows, Alexander was worrying that his hair wasn't looking the way it's supposed to when I left."

Aileen rolled her eyes,
"Well, if he doesn't show up soon, I'm going to be dragging him here by the ear, I don't want any more attention on us then necessary and him showing up late will certainly give that attention."

"You dragging him by the ear will too."
Wesley said teasingly and Aileen whacked his shoulder and scowled.

To Aileen's relief, her brother arrived moments later and soon they were walking through the doors and down the extravagant staircase to the ballroom and the dais where the aristocrats were sitting. They bowed and curtsied before moving aside for the next family that had been behind them.